If you are looking for an unparalleled vacation experience, look to the City of Light. Holidays in Paris are simply indulgent and are fantastic choices for those who want to achieve a worthwhile holiday break.
Paris is more than the Eiffel Tower, if you know where to look. Here’s a list of quirky experiences that will make for a memorable trip.
1. Drink wine in the streets of Montmartre. The 9th Arrondissment hosts La Fete des Vendages (Grape Harvest Festival) every autumn. Walk the cobbled streets of this area – known best for the Sacre Coeur cathedral – with tastings, live music, and fireworks.
2. Follow in the footsteps of the famous. Pick a celebrity who spent some time in Paris – Edith Piaf, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald – and see Paris as they did. Take lunch or sip coffee at Les Deux Magots, as Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre once did. Take in the cancan dancers of La Moulin Rouge, where Toulouse Lautrec once drank and cavorted with girls of the night. Have a drink at the Hotel Saint James & Albany on the rue de Rivoli, where the Fitzgeralds were unceremoniously kicked out for drunk and lewd behavior in 1921.
3. Pay your respects. The cemeteries of Paris are filled with the graves of the famous. Lay a rose for Frederic Chopin, Napoleon Bonaparte, Jim Morrison, or Maria Callas. It’s a great way to take quiet walks amid the bustle of such a busy city.
4. See the Picasso museum. Reopened in 2014, this mansion in Le Marais hosts one of the largest collections of this surrealist. Sketches, paintings and sculptures are featured, alongside his own personal art collection.
5. Eat the world. While visiting France, it’s important to eat French food, but it’s not the only game in town. Paris is a global city, with strong influences from Africa and beyond. Eat Moroccan, which is a true taste France’s colonial history. Enjoy Vietnamese, or perhaps the most unusual Chinese noodles you’ll ever see and taste from Les Pates Vivants (the live noodles). Ever eaten Sardinian? You’ll have your chance in Paris.
While in Paris you’ll want to cover the basics like visiting the Louvre, walking along the Seine, and photographing the sparkling Eiffel Tower at twilight. But by peering into unexpected nooks and crannies in this magnificent city, you’ll have unique memories to cherish for a lifetime. Take a chance, and go off the beaten path!
